The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1887-11-30
THE SAMOAN ISLANDERS.
PECULIAR FACTS ABOUT TEE KA-
NAKAS OF TIE SOUTH SEA.


usually called Kanakas, are very intelli-
gent people, and by far the best look.
ing of any of the South Sea Islanders.
The men, SAYS Gus c. Roeder, in the
New York World, average about feet
10 inches in height, are erect and proud
in bearing. and have straight and we'll
rounded limbs The men all wear
clont, or short cloth, around their waists
which does not extend any farther in
length than down to the knees; this
clout in most cases is manufactured from
the bark of cocoanut trees, and called
"Lahpahlahpah,n but since calico and
other light linen materials have been
introduced many of the men prefer to
wear those but al avs choose among
the most picturesque colors. Tattooing
is one of the amoan's greatest prides,
and every man is ornamented in most
artistic style, and furnished by his
parents with pair of tattooed knee
breeches. Many of the men wear ear
rings. The color Of the Samoans is OF
an olive yellow brown. The nose is usu-
ally straight, and not fattened like that
of the Malay, and the mouth is large,
with thick lips. The hair is bllck and
straight. Among the men it is consid-
tltN a EiNdN nOlOA W lAtANN wv hst - NAANA
the redder persons hair the more intu-
ence he can command But as nature
has furnished the inhabitants of Samoa
with Jet black hair the natives have to
look for some other source in order to
be enabled to wear their choicest red.
Upon my first visit to Apia, the capi-
tai of the Samoan Islands, in 1878, was
surprised to S. so many men walking
10, x..,t1, x.-1,ot I OF Erct ,aifpyn1 tp ha
snow-white hair, but upon closer exam
ination learned that the natives apply
whitish clay similar to our whitewash to
their hair This they use instead of
pomade or hair oil and apply it in
thick mass until the hair becomes thor
oughly hardened and white. The men
continue this process of bleaching their
hair until it loses its former black color,
and with time turns to a brownlsh red.
A rather peculiar taste, but they feel proud
of the success in color.ng their hair.
Quite often women go through the same
performance, but they are compelled to
wear their hair short, as long hair cannot
so easily be discolored. Natives of
Samoa. as a rule, regard work as some
thing unnecessary, and all the work
done on the plantations owned by Euro
pSduS IL Dg hdudhdo OlNONl
from other islands.
The Samoans are very friendly, and in
passing always greet stranger with Il
hearty "Kal ofTah," which, translated
into our language, means SO ood day"
You stop to speak to one of these chaps,
and after having conc uded your con-
versation he will never forget upon de-
parting to hail you with a "Kohah" Of
good-by."
The mode of living of Samoans is very
simple, and days pass sometimes without
Samoan partaking of any hot food.
Cocoanuts, bananas, pineapples, yam,
and more particularly the bread fruit,
once IN while sone fish and piece of
hog. especially when it happens to be
one of your white neighbor's hogs, con-
clude the simple bill of fare. One of
the greatest beverages among the Samo-
ans is "ava." The ava which grows in
clusters from six to ten feet in height, is
species of pepper. from its dried root
is made an intoxicating beverage VIII ch
when taken in all does is del ghtlul
soporifc. To dr. nix ava is all very well
if you do not see how it is manufactured
But if you witness the process, rs l did
on one occasion, when l first sampled
this native drink, l feel assured that
your taste for aAa will be somew hat
changed. While taking a stroll over
Samoa one fineafternoon | came "a F6ss a
larse nus1beEof Apians, maE,and women,
sA-wnb were sit5Fsa-&p ttSs ground around
one of the native huts, apparently en-
gagged in some very interesting work.
Having lost my way and being anxious
to see all there was to be seen, / APP
preached the crowd, greeted my friends
with a "Kalloffah," and, with all the
Samoan atmy command, explained my
eIrand. The natives treated me very
kindly, and at once invited me to take a
seat in their family circle, offering me
the best place between two charming
young girls. | noticed that all the women
and young girls were engaged in chewing
at a root, while on their laps rested small
cocoanut bowls, which took to be spit
toons, as they allowed the juice of the
roots to drop into the bowels. In the
centre of the circle stood larger bowl,
and whenever one of the women had
chewed enough on the root she would
empty the contents of her bowl into the
larger one. Watched these proceedings
with great astonishment, and could not
imagine to what end these women eXer-
cised their Jaws on those gray roots.
After the bowl in the centre had been
about half filled with this brownish fluid,
some lines and oranges were produced
and mixed with the rest, and the milk oi
a number of cocoanuts added to the
whole, completed the Samoans' famous
drink called 'ava." To see its manu-
ture was hard enough, but now came the
hardest part. was supposed to drink
this stuff. was at loss what to do.
knew that if | refused to partake | would
be insulting my host l tried to makt
believe that was not thirsty, but thii
did not seem TO work at all, and to m!
great horror was offered the first drinl
after the mixture had been pronounced
by the oldest chief present to be all right
My fair neighbor to the right offered m
quite large bowl filled to the brim witt
ava, and had TO partake. took si
and tried to return the balance because
did not like its peppery taste, but it wa
no go. had to finish. 1t was all tina
my life was worth. | managed to &c
through as best / could, and washc
the whole down with some cocoanu
milk. afterward learned that had
refused to drink with my Samoan friend
| certainly would have been cOmpelle